Sleeping Beauty
by Chocochino
Summary: "He died in peace. He's happy. And, well, I'm not." About Katniss and her dates with sleeping syrup. AR HG, warning inside, sorry for bad grammar


"Stop! STOP! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you—the tributes of District Twelve!"

_**Boom!**_

"Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I present you Katniss Everdeen, the victor from District Twelve!"

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**Sleeping Beauty**

**Warning and Disclaimer:**

The Hunger Games © Suzanne Collins

All the words flow – all my OCs – and nearly the whole idea © Hikari Tenshiro

AR THG, OOC, English, one-shot, third-person-POV, Katniss-centric, angst failed, Everlark, bad grammar, Romance/Tragedy/Drama/Angst RnR, also DON'T LIKE DON'T READ

A **fic **from **Hikari Tenshiro** for **The Hunger Games**

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Peeta Mellark is dead in the arena of the 74th Hunger Games.

Katniss Everdeen didn't need to look back when she spit the nightlock berries off her mouth. Something heavy was falling on her back, and the cannon boomed. Her heart aches.

She knew that the boy with bread has let one of the berries past his throat. Finally, she made her third human-killing in this damned arena—and the last one she killed is her allies, her supposed-to-be-lover, someone she supposed to save. And somehow, she sickened with this fact.

Peeta Mellark is_ dead_ of following her stupid plan.

A drop of her tear struggled to come out, but the Girl on Fire successfully managed to hold it. She's alive without him, becoming the only victor of the annual 74th Hunger Games, and actually her crazy plan not working at all. Her thoughts blame her. Her hands felt colder than usual.

She killed her lover. How could she face District 12?

Katniss not trying to looking back, where the dead body of Peeta lying on the ground. She might would see the serene face trying to say 'you're forgiven' or anything, but she won't. She made a vow that she'll never watch her game, just to make sure she could forget this. If she could forget anything about Peeta's dead, she'll be alright and live happily in the Victor Village.

The hovercraft came, and a new hole created in her heart.

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The blue hair attracted the victor's eyes. Caesar Flickerman is very flickering this night, but for a couple of hours before the eyes of Panem attracted to the 3 hours record of the 74th Hunger Games. This time, Katniss had kept her vow.

"I'm sorry to ask you this, but I thought we all want to know. So, Katniss, what do you think about Peeta's dead?"

There was a quite long silence before the braided girl could answer. "I think ... I think he's not the one who died in the arena. He died in peace. He's happy. And, well, I'm not. I'm dying inside. You need to understand that losing him is the worst thing could happen to me. But maybe life must go on."

The Girl on Fire turned the audience in silence, gave her sympathy. But she didn't care. Her heart already dead with the boy with bread in the arena.

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Primrose Everdeen was running in hurry to one of the houses in the District 12's Victor Village. Once she opened the door, her little mouth shouted.

"The coffin has come, Katniss!"

But nothing's out, no sound came from the victor. She only stood in front of the door to her room, expressed nothing on her face and finally nodded after some seconds. Then she walked to the bathroom. Her sister could hear the door closed in rage, and then the shower has turned on.

Prim stepped closer to the bathroom, put her left ear to the door, and somehow, she heard Katniss sobbed. Her sister won't go to the tribute's funeral, spent her time and water in their bathroom.

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The black-haired girl trying to move her feet silently in her home in Victor Village. It already late night, but she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her gray eyes, another nightmare would haunt her just like before and she bother to remember even a little one of them. After thinking on her bed, she decided to go to her mother's medicine box in the kitchen.

Katniss lighted up a candle and opened the box, browse the whole box until she found it on the very bottom. The label was written 'Sleeping Syrup' and she grabbed it, stepped back to her room quietly.

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There are two pairs of lip tenderly touching each other in a green meadow with blue sky and dandelions. One of the owners was asleep, but finally opened her gray eyes wide.

"Hello, Katniss."

The sweet voice from the baker calming the Seam girl. This girl, who was looked sickened and dying because of the hole in her heart, immediately relieved and smiled as radiant as the sun.

"Peeta!"

She hugged him and they're both kissing again like they haven't met for years and every time one of them tried to pulled themselves they would kissed again. Inseparable. Becoming one.

Finally, when they pulled themselves over (and not trying to start the other kiss), Peeta over his left hand and opened his mouth. "Would you come with me?"

Katniss knew what he meant. Death. Remembered the pain she felt without him, she answer—nearly scream—without any further thoughts.

"I will, Peeta, I will! Right now if you wish!"

The baker offered his hand and the huntress tried to reach him. But right after she touched it, the world seems to spin and send her back to Twelve.

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Katniss opened her eyes, still felt sleepy. Her dream last night was more than just 'excellent' and she wanted to have one again. Half conscious, she took the sleeping syrup beside her bed and poured a spoonful into her throat.

And the dream repeated ...

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"Katniss? Katniss honey, open the door!"

Annika Everdeen carried a plate of food in her right arms and knocked her daughter's room with her left hand. She's been standing here for 5 minutes and there's no answer. Finally, she decided to open it. She's still asleep.

"Alright, dear," she smiled, put the plate on the desk and kissed her forehead. "When you wake up, your breakfast is here. I'll go to the shop. Have a nice day!"

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When Annika came back from apothecary, she checked her daughter's room again. Katniss was still asleep, but the food was untouchable—she haven't seen the syrup.

Have Katniss awake while she's not at home?

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"Glad you come, Gale!"

Primrose Everdeen opened the front door and nearly jumped to see her sister's best friend. "Have you see Katniss walked around while we're at the apothecary? Maybe to Seam or Merchant Quarter?"

Gale Hawthorne shook his head fast and lift the little girl up. "Hey, you're too much asking! You even haven't said 'hello' or anything to me!"

Finally, when the newbie in the mine put down the blonde girl, she asked again. "Are you seriously never seen her?"

The Seam guy shook again and answer, "Never, Prim. I'm down in the ground and searching for a bucket of coal, remember? Actually, I want to have some hunts with your sister. Today is Sunday, right? I've got a holiday."

Prim forget about it. "Oh, sorry, Gale! We've got a problem here, however, and I was thinking you could help us. Every time we check Katniss' room, she always falls asleep. Mom already prepared some food, but it was untouchable. We're thinking she went around while we're gone, at first, but this already happened for three days! Maybe ... could you help us?"

Gale smiled nicely. "Of course I would! Katniss is my best friend, and of course I would help her! So, what can I do?"

This man finally spent his precious Sunday waiting Katniss in her bedroom to warn Prim if she's awake.

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Waiting was a very boring and exhausting thing to do. Soon, Gale fell asleep and still asleep while Katniss away.

That girl didn't care with anything around her except the sleeping syrup on the nightstand beside her bed, and didn't notice the sleeping guy in her room. In her head, there's only Peeta and the meadow where they usually meet in her dreams—and also how she wanted to stay in there and repair the hole in her heart.

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It took a quite long time for Gale to wake up and realized that Katniss was still asleep. He was attempted to take another nap—but when he realized there's a sleeping syrup on her nightstand, the 'cousin' gasped.

Learning from his mistake, this time Gale wouldn't let himself fall asleep when Katniss awake. He's successfully done it. Right when the huntress nearly reached the bottle.

_**SLAP.**_

"That's hurt!" Katniss screamed and rubbed her left arm, which was hit by Gale to make her full awake. "Can't you just do it slower?"

"If I do, you would take the syrup again. I can't wait any longer, you know. Sunday is nearly over. And now, you even haven't said hello or anything nice to me."

"Alright Gale, _hello_ and _good anything it could be_," she threw her sight and added her words. "I forgot you've been working to search the damned coals now. How's your feeling deep down there?"

"It's not the time to discuss it, Catnip. There's something more important than this."

"So, you're not coming to talk to me? Maybe we could do some hunt and trading."

"I'm actually not coming for this, you know," and soon Gale realized something. "Oh, okay, I was coming to talk to you. But when Prim told me you're asleep for 3 days, I decided to check what actually happened."

"Okay, reason accepted. Then?"

"Why you do this?"

"What do you mean with this _'this'_ you're asking about?"

His jaws clenched. "Why, do you, Katniss, have to fall asleep every time and consume sleeping syrup when you're awake? Prim said you even didn't touch the food your mother had put on your desk," his finger point over bed, "right there? Told me something logical."

"Your Math score even never get a perfect score, Gale, and you still want me to tell you something logical? Oh, come on! Seems nothing in my problem logical. Besides, it's my problem."

"But at least, tell me! I'm your best friend! I should know your problem and help you find a way out!"

"Well, in my case, this is the way out. I've found it and all you've done is just ..." she tried to hit Gale and took the syrup with the spoon, "... disturbing me!"

_**BLAM. CLANG.**_

_**CLASP.**_

Both the bottle and the spoon fell down to the floor, and Gale won't take it for Katniss, as his lips is sticked to hers. It wasn't his first kiss, but this is their first time. And their first time won't be as good as they ever dreamed. Katniss tried to get out of it, while Gale tried to continue it.

"Wake up, Katniss," Gale kept pushing her to the pastel-painted wall. "You have to face the reality. These dreams gonna kill you!"

"You even don't know what I've been dreaming about," she hissed back. "No matter how much you kissed me, I couldn't wake up."

"Stop. Sleeping. I force you now."

"Won't stop."

The Seam guy finally gave up after a hard push from the broken girl and walked out from her bedroom. "Okay, maybe I'd tell Prim and maybe I'd ask her to talk to you. The reality is, you have to open your eyes. Don't sleep."

"Whatever."

Just after the door closed, she took the syrup from the bed again. No one could ever force a broken heart.

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When Katniss Everdeen woke up the next hours, she found a piece of paper and a pencil on the desk beside the sleeping syrup with the spoon. Someone had entered her room when she's asleep. She read it carefully and knew it was Prim's handwriting.

_Reply me your problem, don't fall asleep. I might won't be here when you wake up again to talk to you. –P._

She smiled. Her little sister is the best sister she ever had. Suddenly, her right hand grabbed the pencil hard. There's a dizzy feelings in her head and she remembered her first days in Games, tried not to bite her chapped lips.

She's dehydrating.

3 days spending time by sleeping and only drink some spoonful of sleeping syrup, no wonder she would sick of this. Maybe ... would she dead? If it must be, then not now. At least, she need to write something for Prim.

_Prim, I've killed Peeta. I can't stand anymore. When I drink the syrup, he comes in my dream and it's nice. I need that. Sorry for everything. –K._

In dizziness of thirsty, she put down the pencil and took the spoon and the syrup bottle. Right after the liquid rolled down to her throat, the dizziness made her closed her eyes and the bottle fell to her bed, still opened, made the liquid stained the sheet.

_Oh, Peeta, _she screamed in her thoughts, _Peeta, wake me up!_

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"Wake up, Katniss," someone kissed someone's lip, "it's me."

The Victor of the 74th Hunger Games opened her eyes and saw him, the boy with the bread, smiling as bright as his white costumes he wore. "You're all white, Peeta."

He chuckled. "I think so. Hey, I think I've got something matching you."

"What's that?" she asked anxiously.

"Well, when I was little, my father told me a story before Panem. It called _Sleeping Beauty._ And I think, you're the Sleeping Beauty."

"I'm not sleeping beautifully, I think. Tell me."

As a father tells his children a bedtime story, Peeta told Katniss about Sleeping Beauty, sometimes changed his voice and gently rubbed her hair. "Finally, the prince and the princess get married, and they're living happily ever after. The end."

Katniss took a deep breath and smiled. "It's a nice story. Er ... Peeta?"

"Yes, Katniss?" he looked at those gray eyes.

"Do you think if I'm the princess, you could be my prince who wakes me up?"

"Well, maybe we could remove your nightmares and live happily ever after in the meadow we usually met. I miss the dandelion beds."

"Me too. Take me there, Peeta. Kiss me and wake me up."

"With pleasure, my princess."

He leaned to kiss her lover gently, and both of them closed their eyes. Soon, they came back to the meadow and live happily ever after.

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_Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't wanna live there –Owl City, The Real World_

***THE END***

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**A/N: **Finally ... my first Everlark! Hello everyone, I'm Hikari Tenshiro and you can call me Hikari-chan! I'm new in here, so some concrete and flames would be nice :D I love Hunger Games and I'm addicted to this pair, because nearly everyday I would check if there's a new one-shot about them. English is not my mother language, so sorry for any bad grammar; please tell me in review if there's one so I could repair it!

One thing I don't expect from you who would review mine, is a one-line. I hate it more than any type of review you'll give; seems you don't appreciate the story too much. In Indonesian stories, you'll rarely find it. But one thing you have to notice more: I'll welcome all the concrete and even flames! Once again, thank you to spend your time reading this.

**Dream out Loud! =)**


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